AHA2015

Should dissertations be posted online?

by Michael D. Hattem

One thing to note:  There's a difference between “open access” and “public access.”

AHA 2015: Historical Perspectives on Ferguson (Video)

by Marcia Chatelain, William Jelani Cobb, Colin H. Gordon, Khalil Muhammad, and Heather Ann Thompson

Historians talked about the history of race relations in Ferguson, Missouri, and how we got here.

Linda Gordon backs the BDS Movement but not an academic boycott of Israel

by Linda Gordon

In a column in the Chronicle she lays out the argument she made at the AHA: The BDS Movement is pressuring Israel in desirable ways.

Historians Against the War (HAW) calls out critics for falsely claiming the group backed a boycott of Israel

by Van Gosse

HAW says the facts were readily available. 

"The radical historians lose again"

by Ron Radosh

The young radicals of the 1960s and ’70s received their Ph.D.s and began their “long march through the institutions.” They now dominate the profession.

Inside Account: How resolutions critical of Israel were defeated at the American Historical Association

by Jeffrey Herf

"University of Maryland Professor Jeffrey Herf helped lead the battle to defeat anti-Israel resolutions at the American Historical Association"

Quotes: What Historians Are Saying About the Controversy at the AHA About Israel

Quotes that have appeared in media and blogger accounts.

Historians Decide NOT to Debate Resolutions Critical of Israel

by Rick Shenkman

At the annual Business Meeting the members voted overwhelmingly not to suspend the rules to allow debate on two resolutions that had been submitted after the requisite deadline. 

Can You Have a Liberalism without Labor? (Video)

by Nelson Lichtenstein

We may be about to find out. 

What Happened to the Democratic Party? They Killed Santa Claus. (Video)

by Rick Perlstein

How the Democrats turned right and lost America. 

Why in the 1930s Did the U.S. Move Left and in the 1970s Move Right? (Video)

by Meg Jacobs

Conservatism survived Watergate, but liberalism struggled.

What Happened to Second Wave Feminism? (Video)

by Alice Kessler-Harris

Women won the battle, but lost the war, strengthening capitalism and hierarchy.

Spirited Argument Breaks Out at Roundtable on Resolutions Critical of Israel (Video)

by Rick Shenkman

The AHA is being petitioned to vote on two resolutions critical of Israel.  

How Should Historians Teach the Palestine-Israel Conflict? (Video)

by Barbara Weinstein

Even when teaching a class about Brazilian history, it can help to teach by analogy--and that can mean bringing in an example from history involving Israel. 

Historians Should Pressure Congress to Limit Aid to Israel (Video)

by Linda Gordon

The United States gives billions more to Israel than is acknowledged.

Israelis and Palestinians Can't Agree on History Because of the Power Imbalance Between Them (Video)

by Joel Beinin

Israel's offenses include the confiscation of the intellectual property of Palestinians -- and that's something historians need to debate.

It's Time for Historians to Explode the Myth of Israeli Exceptionalism (Video)

by Leena Dallasheh

To really understand Israel we need to remember it won its independence in a period of decolonization. 

Thomas Bender: The Changing Role of the Public Intellectual Since World War II (Video)

by Thomas Bender

Specialization is the rule of the day, but it's changed historians' capacity to reach a larger public. 

Public Debate Is Challenging for Historians but Worth the Effort (Video)

by Ellen F. Fitzpatrick

Historians like nuance.  The media want fast answers that are simple.  

How Public Historians Have Tried to Set the Record Straight in India About Muslims Destroying Hindu Temples (Video)

by Partha Chatterjee

In India Hindu right-wingers have demonized Muslim leaders who ruled for 7 centuries. Historians have tried to put their rule in context.